Project Control
ELSEVIER
PII:
SO965-9978(96)00046-4
Advancesin Engineering Software (1997) 97-101 28 0 1997 Elsevier ScienceLimited Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved 0965-9978/97/$17.00
Audio/visual information in construction project control
Osama Abudayyeh
Department of Construction Engineering, Material Engineering and Industrial Design, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, USA
(Received 11 July 1995; revised version received 24 July 1996; accepted 4 October 1996) The proper design of an information system in support of project management is crucial to the successful and effective management of the construction process. Particularly, the need for quality data and information pertaining to the performance of a construction project is well recognized. However, one such type of information, namely audio/visual (voice, pictures, videos), has not yet received adequate attention in the construction industry. Researchershave just begun to evaluate the role of such non-conventional data in construction applications. This paper discusses the development of a prototype system that deals with audio/ visual information along with other types of data in support of project management. 0 1997 Elsevier Science Limited. All rights reserved. Key words: audio data, visual data, construction management, database, information system, project management, pictorial information.
1 INTRODUCTION Adequate and effective management of construction projects depends on good access to and control of data, especially data pertaining to the performance of a construction project.‘12 Long recognizing the need for quality information, researchers have proposed data models to achieve the desired acquisition, storage and presentation of (data and information.3 However, one such type of information, namely audio/visual, has long been neglected or not appropriately acquired, stored, processed and ,presented. The proper design of
PII:
SO965-9978(96)00046-4
Advancesin Engineering Software (1997) 97-101 28 0 1997 Elsevier ScienceLimited Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved 0965-9978/97/$17.00
Audio/visual information in construction project control
Osama Abudayyeh
Department of Construction Engineering, Material Engineering and Industrial Design, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, USA
(Received 11 July 1995; revised version received 24 July 1996; accepted 4 October 1996) The proper design of an information system in support of project management is crucial to the successful and effective management of the construction process. Particularly, the need for quality data and information pertaining to the performance of a construction project is well recognized. However, one such type of information, namely audio/visual (voice, pictures, videos), has not yet received adequate attention in the construction industry. Researchershave just begun to evaluate the role of such non-conventional data in construction applications. This paper discusses the development of a prototype system that deals with audio/ visual information along with other types of data in support of project management. 0 1997 Elsevier Science Limited. All rights reserved. Key words: audio data, visual data, construction management, database, information system, project management, pictorial information.
1 INTRODUCTION Adequate and effective management of construction projects depends on good access to and control of data, especially data pertaining to the performance of a construction project.‘12 Long recognizing the need for quality information, researchers have proposed data models to achieve the desired acquisition, storage and presentation of (data and information.3 However, one such type of information, namely audio/visual, has long been neglected or not appropriately acquired, stored, processed and ,presented. The proper design of
References: 1. Abudayyeh, 0. Y. & Rasdorf, W. J., The design of construction industry information management systems.J. Constr. Engng. Man., 1991, 117, 698-715. 2. CII, the Construction Industry Institute, Project Control for Construction. Bureau of Engineering Research, the University of Texas at Austin, Publication 6-5, September 1987. 3. Rasdorf, W. J. & Abudayyeh, 0. Y., Cost and schedule control integration: issues and needs. J. Constr. Engng. Man., September 1991. 4. Oglesby, C. H., Parker, H. W. & Howell, G. A., Productivity Improvement in Construction. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1989. 5. Abudayyeh, 0. Y., The modeling, design and implementation of a construction multi-media information management system. Technical Report CME-95-01, Construction Division, Department of Civil Engineering and Construction, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, August 1995. 6. Rasdorf, W. J. & Abudayyeh, 0. Y., A formal approach to schema design for engineering databases. J. Adv. Engng. Software, 1992, 14, 23-32. The information management system described in this paper strongly promotes the role of audio/visual data in the construction environment by developing and testing the concept of automated acquisition, storage and reporting of pictorial and voice data in support of project management. Therefore, the system produces fast, accurate visual and audio information about the progress on the site by providing instant pictorial data and verbal description capture. Thus, performance can be evaluated on time, and problem areas detected as they occur. Furthermore, the integration of audio/visual